Isaac Asimov
银河帝国13:繁星若尘 豆瓣 Goodreads
The Stars, Like Dust
6.8 (31 个评分) 作者: [美] 艾萨克·阿西莫夫 译者: 叶李华 江苏文艺出版社 2014 - 1
人类蜗居在银河系的一个小角落——太阳系,在围绕太阳旋转的第三颗行星上,生活了十多万年之久。
人类在这个小小的行星(他们称之为“地球”)上,建立了两百多个不同的行政区域(他们称之为“国家”),直到地球上诞生了第一个会思考的机器人。
在机器人的帮助下,人类迅速掌握了改造外星球的技术,开启了恢弘的星际殖民运动;人类在银河系如蝗虫般繁衍扩张,带着他们永不磨灭的愚昧与智慧、贪婪与良知,登上了一个个荒凉的星球,并将银河系卷入漫长的星际战国时代,直至整个银河被统一,一个统治超过2500万个住人行星、疆域横跨十万光年、总计数兆亿人口的庞大帝国崛起——银河帝国。
一个微妙的转折发生在银河帝国建国后的12020年。哈里·谢顿,这个刚满32岁的年轻数学家,开创了“心理史学”,这门学科能用数学公式准确推演全人类的未来——“预言”从此成为一门可以信任的科学,人类由此可以看见未来。
谢顿的第一个预言是:虽然毫无征兆,但已存在一万两千年之久的银河帝国即将灭亡。
一时间,银河震动,帝国飘摇;皇帝、宰相、夺权者、反叛星球,各方势力立刻剑拔弩张,人类银河时代最伟大的传奇就此开启……
2022年10月19日 已读
虽然看的主要是英文但我很虚荣所以中文版的读书记录也喜加一;忘记在英文短评说了,这书其实是 Asimov 自己最不满意的小说。
Isaac Asimov 科幻
The Stars, Like Dust 豆瓣
作者: Isaac Asimov Orb Books 2009 - 9
Biron Farrell was young and naive, but he was growing up fast. A radiation bomb planted in his dorm room changed him from an innocent student at the University of Earth to a marked man, fleeing desperately from an unknown assassin.He soon discovers that, many light-years away, his father, the highly respected Rancher of Widemos, has been murdered. Stunned, grief-stricken, and outraged, Biron is determined to uncover the reasons behind his father's death, and becomes entangled in an intricate saga of rebellion, political intrigue, and espionage.The mystery takes him deep into space where he finds himself in a relentless struggle with the power-mad despots of Tyrann. Now it is not just a case of life or death for Biron, but a question of freedom for the galaxy.
2022年10月19日 已读
于一九五一年发表,那时新中国才成立二年,首个载人飞船上天还要等到十年后;不过这书出现了飞船水循环系统和空间跃迁这概念,超强!是早期的太空歌剧,剧情很无聊,男女的互动描写傻白甜,作者也说过这是他最不喜欢的小说,途中我有好几次想弃坑,与 the Expanse 相比差得远了;最后看到 65% 终于忍不住了,直接去看中文并在半小时内看完;不过看得出 Asimov 的科幻推理套路在这时候就已经形成了;Aratap 这个独裁帝国下的和平主义者形象真是少见;the Constitution 貌似是编辑 H. L. Gold 强塞进去的,Asimov 很不爽。
Isaac Asimov 科幻
Prelude to Foundation 豆瓣
作者: Isaac Asimov Spectra 1989 - 3
It is the year 12,020 G.E. and Emperor Cleon I sits uneasily on the Imperial throne of Trantor. Here in the great multidomed capital of the Galactic Empire, forty billion people have created a civilization of unimaginable technological and cultural complexity. Yet Cleon knows there are those who would see him fall - those whom he would destroy if only he could read the future.
Hari Seldon has come to Trantor to deliver his paper on psychohistory, his remarkable theory of prediction. Little does the young Outworld mathematician know that he has already sealed his fate and the fate of humanity. For Hari possesses the prophetic power that makes him the most wanted man in the Empire... the man who holds the key to the future - an apocalyptic power to be know forever after as the Foundation.
2022年7月18日 已读
前半部分情节很沉闷;在 Mycogian 的冒险看得出来这部分是为衔接机器人系列从而打造 Great Foundation 而服务的,这本书距 Second Foundation 出版好像已经过去了二十年多,所以书中开始出现前有所未有的 commuter;世界观里人类起源是不明确的,Earth 本身都成为传说,这种失落文明感很有趣;读到结局,大吃一惊,才知道前半部分不光沉闷,而且其实也引发了读者潜意识里隐隐约约的不对劲感,这一切都是为了真相揭开的冲击而服务;机器人自发进化出第零定律并默默无闻地守护了人类二万年,多么伟大!反派:正派竟是我自己。
Isaac Asimov 科幻
The Gods Themselves 豆瓣
9.0 (23 个评分) 作者: Isaac Asimov Spectra 1990 - 9
艾萨克·阿西莫夫因为《神们自己》获得了1972年星云奖及1973年雨果奖。《神们自己(TheGodsThemselves)》,这个标题出自席勒描写圣女贞德的剧作中的一句话:面对愚昧,即使神们自己都束手无策
Only a few know the terrifying truth--an outcast Earth scientist, a rebellious alien inhabitant of a dying planet, a lunar-born human intuitionist who senses the imminent annihilation of the Sun. They know the truth--but who will listen? They have foreseen the cost of abundant energy--but who will believe? These few beings, human and alien, hold the key to the Earth's survival.
2022年10月9日 已读
详见长评。
2022年10月9日 评论 短评太长所以只好写成长评 - 陈柏龄在比较阿西莫夫和刘慈欣时给了《神们自己》和《永恒的终结》很高的评价,认为比起大基地系列,它们更是阿西莫夫的代表作;永恒的终结我不喜欢没读完,但这本书想象力确实非常精彩,从没见过能从多宇宙这老套设定上挖这么深的;这书名,The God Themselves,一股强大的中二气息扑面而来,虽然读完书了也不确定它什么意思;几乎所有作品都在描写人类,我想看看跳脱出人类中心之外的作品,这本书的第二部分做到了,描绘了生态神奇无比的外星文明,又玩了揭谜底把戏,还是反转之反转;第一部分深刻地揭露了人类自私本性的无奈现实,第三部分却意外给了光明的结局,还是要靠科技打败科技;阿西莫夫真喜欢在科幻小说中写爱情,这书的爱情线也又科幻又浪漫;好久没读原版小说了,又有半年没背单词了,发现好多背过的词语都忘了,阅读速度也比不上看中文的,不过看到后面越看越快,一个晚上就把书的一半给读完了,后来查了这书的字数,七万六,还可以吧;这本书同时获得了 1973 年的星云奖,雨果奖,轨迹奖,大满贯! 另一个书评 比我写的好多了,有严重剧透慎入。
Isaac Asimov 科幻
I, Robot 豆瓣 Goodreads
作者: Isaac Asimov Spectra 1991 - 11
The three laws of Robotics:
1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
2) A robot must obey orders givein to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
With this, Asimov changed our perception of robots forever when he formulated the laws governing their behavior. In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of the robot through a series of interlinked stories: from its primitive origins in the present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future--a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete.
Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-read robots, and robots with a sense of humor. Of robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world--all told with the dramatic blend of science fact & science fiction that became Asmiov's trademark.
2023年3月4日 已读
详见长评。
2023年3月4日 评论 二〇二三年,阿西莫夫,ChatGPT,我,机器人 - 一九四四年,阿西莫夫发表 Catch That Rabbit;七十九年后,即 2023-03-04 15:12:28+08:00 时,我读到该短篇如此一段时: ... And so help me she blushed. She said, “Robots have gone wrong on me. Heavens, how long it’s been since I thought of it. Why, it was almost forty years ago. Certainly! 2021! And I was only thirty-eight. Oh, my—I’d rather not talk about it.” ... 我会想起两年前还处于动态清零时代的遥远某日下午,那年我和书中三十八岁的 Dr.Susan 处在同一个年。 哲学家思考我是谁我在哪我到哪去,科幻家则在想人类创造出机器人时,会发生什么。在阿西莫夫执笔前,大多科幻家都只在假象机器人掀起反叛并试图取而代之,人类大战机器人。阿西莫夫另辟蹊径,提出了著名的机器人三定律。其实它本身就反映了人类文明的范式,即理想的人类也会符合这种三定律,Evidence 对此有解说。 人类为何害怕机器人?本身就是因为人类很清楚人类本身是有杀心的生物,他们害怕机器人,不如说是害怕有杀心的人类。我自己从来不担心人工智能失控。因为人工智能或机器人终究是人造之物。核武器本身没有意识,危险的是人类本身。就算人工智能自己对人类起了杀心,那必然也是人类教会的。我之所以不担心正因为我自己渺小无比,即无力阻止人类专制的恶政,自然也无法阻止人工智能的诞生,担心无济于事。 对于人类本身,也可以概括一些定律:人总是以生存为目的;为生存需要,人需要新陈代谢;人追求正面刺激,即奖励多巴胺的行为,回避负面刺激,即痛苦;人所能摄取最高正面刺激的行为之一是性交配;性交配行为有概率繁衍出下一代;下一代自动服从先前定律。 但机器本身不像人类那样天生就有接受刺激的感应器和对应的反射神经。于是若要给予机器刺激,必须人工制造感应器和反射神经。ChatGPT 本身就可以说是以损失厌恶函数为驱动,反向传播其刺激,正向传播反射的人工神经网络。而且这 AI 相当有成为 The Machines 的潜力。 于是给机器适配感应器和反射神经,可以产生造福机器,就像是 ChatGPT,或是 I, Robot 出现的遵守机器人三定律的机器人,以及 The Machines;或是灭世机器,像是军事无人机,天网,终结者。但人类自己的缺陷都克服不了,试图服务于人类的机器人三定律也不例外,比如面对电车难题时就永远无法令所有人满意。于是书中就出现了针对三定律缺陷兼带有美式幽默的这些短篇:Runaround,Reason,Catch That Rabbit,Little Lost Robot,Escape!。 书中也在 "The Evitable Conflict" 短篇中超前地提出了 The Machines 完全服从甚至反向支配人类文明的乌托邦;以及短篇 Evindence 中出现的薛定谔式半人半机的市长 Byerley。Susan 说她猜 Byerley 是机器人,但自从 Byerley 通过原子分解机销毁自我后真相已经不得而知,但这不重要,Byerley 确实对人类文明有不可磨灭的贡献,是空前的圣人,Susan 的这种态度已经出现了图灵测试的影子,而后者晚于小说 Evindence 四年才发表。
Isaac Asimov 科幻
Foundation's Edge 豆瓣 Goodreads
作者: Isaac Asimov Spectra 1991 - 11
At last, the costly and bitter war between the two Foundations had come to an end. The scientists of the First Foundation had proved victorious; and now they retum to Hari Seldon's long-established plan to build a new Empire that the Second Foundation is not destroyed after all-and that its still-defiant survivors are preparing their revenge. Now the two exiled citizens of the Foundation-a renegade Councilman and the doddering historian-set out in search of the mythical planet Earth. . .and proof that the Second Foundation still exists. Meanwhile someone-or something-outside of both Foundations sees to be orchestrating events to suit its own ominous purpose. Soon representatives of both the First and Second Foundations will find themselves racing toward a mysterious world called Gaia and a final shocking destiny at the very end of the universe!
2023年6月8日 已读
慢热,开头略莫名其妙,各派系人物在跟空气斗智斗勇的样子;最后的博弈有点意思,Free Will! Guidance! Life!;这书还出乎意料地完成了大基地 IP 的布局;基——地——与——地——球——;Asimov 的书读多了,看谁谁都像隐藏 BOSS,所以某人真面目被揭开时我也波澜不惊;最后五分之一部分花了一小时半,看来我的阅读能力已经上升到若一天精力旺盛,可以全力读完一本长度为十四万字的英语小说,虽然超过十万字的小说读起来还是有点焦虑;基地系列终于读到只剩一本了,说实话对这 IP 有点疲劳,希望最后一本不要太让我失望。
Foundation Series Isaac Asimov 科幻
Forward the Foundation 豆瓣 Goodreads
作者: Isaac Asimov Spectra 1994 - 3
A stunning testament to his creative genius. Forward The Foundation is a the saga's dramatic climax -- the story Asimov fans have been waiting for. An exciting tale of danger, intrigue, and suspense, Forward The Foundation brings to vivid life Asimov's best loved characters: hero Hari Seldon, who struggles to perfect his revolutionary theory of psychohistory to ensure the survival of humanity; Cleon II, the vain and crafty emperor of the Galactic Empire,
2023年9月25日 已读
想了下读过的前四本基地着墨点都是阴谋诡计的政治斗争,但这一本读起来感觉有点碎片化流水线化,不是很精彩,科幻点子更是全无,第二章的结局太过于机械降神;重复的部分更是多了,Seldon 至少哄三个以上不同的政治家心理史学没有用 blablabla,和 Dors 吵架没玩没了,Dors 也不停审问各种各样的同事,严重拖累了情节的质量;不过本书也充满了阿西莫夫随着年龄变大,对于衰老的悲观情绪,后来才知道这本也是 Asimov 的遗作,在编辑的帮助下才得以完成;Seldon 为了 Seldon 计划的完成而鞠躬尽瘁,失去了太多,崇高且沉痛地「活着」,最终逝去的大结局令人潸然泪下;创作历程逾五十年,内容直接时间跨度五百余年,背景辐射纵横两万年的壮丽史诗,终于在结束的同时又回到了开始。掩卷而思,恍若隔世。
Foundation Series Isaac Asimov 科幻